''Cyprinodon brontotheroides'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of pupfish in the genus '' Cyprinodon''.

Distribution and habitat

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to hypersaline interior lakes on

San Salvador Island San Salvador Island (known as Watling's Island from the 1680s until 1925) is an island and district of The Bahamas. It is widely believed that during Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World, this island was the first land he s ...

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

Ecology and taxonomy

It coexists alongside two other closely related ''Cyprinodon'' species '' C. desquamator'' and '' C. variegatus''. Together, these three species represent a recent

adaptive radiation In evolutionary biology, adaptive radiation is a process in which organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available, alters biotic int ...

, each having moved into a difference

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

within their specialized environment. Each of these species are defined by distinct

trophic Trophic, from Ancient Greek τροφικός (''trophikos'') "pertaining to food or nourishment", may refer to: * Trophic cascade * Trophic coherence * Trophic egg * Trophic function * Trophic hormone * Trophic level index * Trophic level * Trop ...

adaptations that have affected various aspects of functional

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

Description

''Cyprinodon brontotheroides'' is durophagous. It has a large in-lever to out-lever ratio for closing its lower jaw with force and a protruding, reinforced nasal region probably used for crushing its specialized diet of

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typic ...

s and

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

s. They breed in the spring and the breeding territories are guarded by the males.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21366750 brontotheroides Taxa named by Christopher H. Martin (zoologist) Taxa named by Peter C. Wainwright Fish described in 2013 Endemic fauna of the Bahamas